Steve Aoki may not be everyone's favorite DJ—his cake-throwing can annoy purists and his pop/rock tendencies can unsettle the EDM fanatics—but it's hard to deny that he's one of the hardest working DJs in the game. After a few false starts, Aoki's second artist album, Neon Future, released on Tuesday, features a coterie of guest appearances from Bonnie McKee to Flux Pavilion to Ray Kurzweil."Every time I work with a different artist or producer, it's important to become free of ego and everything that will create a barrier," Aoki says of his collaborating. "If you can't find that you won't be able to move forward in an organic process. There have been moments where heads have butted but you got to let all that go. Opinions have to stay to the side if you want it to be a true collaboration."Last year, Aoki worked with Linkin Park on "A Light That Never Comes" for a joint EP of the same name and the band's remix album Recharged. They rejoined forces in the studio for a track set to be released on part two of Neon Future, expected early 2015. The partnership was a heady experience for Aoki, though he kept his cool."When you're in work mode you're not really thinking about 'wow this is crazy,' you're just thinking 'let's make this the best we can make it,'" he explains. "You don't want something that represents you or them that isn't 110%.'""One thing I learned from my mother is to always have humility in everything you do," he continues. "I'm not married to any of my ideas. You have to be less of a control freak. You have to be willing to be flexible and spontaneous too."Such flexibility was required this past summer when the release date of Neon Future was pushed back due to permission discrepancies over elements in one of the album's tracks (Aoki declines to say which track or with whom the dispute was had). One effect of the album's delay was the indefinite postponement of his much-heralded show at Madison Square Garden in August. Though it is rumored that the show was already plagued by lackluster ticket sales, Aoki promises a new MSG show will be scheduled soon.Another kerfuffle arose this week as Aoki and his team have threatened to sue parody dance music site Wunderground for mocking the DJ with a fake piece of merchandise that used his likeness. When asked for comment, Aoki's management told us simply: "They were illegally selling a shirt with Steve's image on it and we asked them not to. There's not much more to say."These hiccups are hardly slowing the cake-thrower down, with dates, including his ongoing residency at Hakkasan Las Vegas, scheduled through the end of the year. While it's hard to see the life of a DJ as anything but charmed, Aoki isn't taking any aspect of his career for granted. The late-September release of Neon Future is no coincidence as the album just makes the cut off for Grammy eligibility, something Aoki, a nominee in 2013 for Wonderland, is keenly aware of."Hopefully they'll recognize it," he says. "It blows the fucking door away from Wonderland.""I'm happy the album is coming out now," he adds. "I've been playing some of the songs for almost two years. I get energized from how the crowd responds but it's been a long process."Neon Future is out now through Ultra Records.Zel McCarthy likes cake too. @ZelMcCarthy
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